Lilium
by Japan's Arc Angel
Summary: There's was no getting away from it. Petunia was beautiful, and Lily was just, well, Lily. Moving back to England was her way out, only to find, on her doorstep, was James Potter. The only problem being, he'd landed upon Petunia's too, with eyes only for her. And suddenly, yet again, Lily was just another one of the guys. Until he took another look in her direction. Please R&R :)
1. Chapter One: A New Start

_Hey guys, this is just a little something to take my mind off of my dissertation and relax a little. I hope you enjoy and could review for me so I know where to go with this. At the moment, updates wont be as regular as I'd like as I have another huge Harry Potter project on the go, and loads of work at university, but ill try my hardest! __Many thanks, Happy Reading!_

* * *

Chapter One: A New Start

It was a hot summers day as fifteen year old Lily Evans stretched her arms wide, standing in the doorway of her once bustling home and looking out to the setting sun as it bleached the horizon a deep blood red, staining her vision as the last rays of the day fell lightly over her face. She sighed, resting her rather small and thin frame against the doorway, thinking only how much she would miss the country she had found herself in all those years ago, and the people she had encountered in those five year, the bonds they had formed and the things that they had done together. "Move it witch!" Came a small cackle from behind her, Lily suddenly finding herself knocked forwards and straight out of the door, a figure carrying a large box turning away from her.. She knew exactly who it was, and was less than thrilled about it. It was not that she hated her sister Petunia, because she truly didn't and loved her beyond anything. But Lily could not help but have ill feeling towards her from time to time, the differences between them unbelievable. Lily wouldn't have said she was ugly exactly, but she was no Petunia. Whilst she was relatively small and skinny, her sister was tall and curvy, with perfect hair, clothes and makeup, things Lily cared little for. With green eyes, red hair and the baggiest clothes possible, Lily could barely compare to Petunia's bouncing blond hair and silvery eyes further accentuated by her feminine clothing. Lily simply did not have time for such things, instead preferring to be comfortable in her clothing and in herself. Yet, now, as her sister barged her way through the front door and towards their small car and the end of the drive, Lily gritted her teeth together in frustration.

"Oh, how accurate!" She threw after her sister, turning back in towards the house and taking a box from the pile just inside of the door and then making her way in the same direction. Walking around to the back of the car where the boot was propped open, she threw herself into her sister and out of the way, "You move it bitch!" She chuckled out, thoroughly pleased with her comeback as she tidied her own box away as Petunia pulled a truly ugly face in her direction.

"Lilian!" Came a sharp voice, echoing down the street from the front of the car. She had evidently not been made aware of her mother's presence in the front passenger seat, currently looking over an incredible large map that took up most of the windscreen.

"What?" Lily moaned back to her mother, knowing exactly what was coming. It was, at times, like she was being tag teamed by both of them, the two of them strikingly similar in looks and tone of voice. Her mother had never liked the idea that either of her children could possibly be foul mouthed or bad tempered, particularly not the child that took such care in her appearance and whom she had cared for the longest, and it was often no surprise to Lily when she was on the receiving end of her mother's wrath.

"Stop being horrible to your sister." Lily twitched a little, one of her eyebrows moving uncontrollably as Petunia sniggered beside her. It was completely typical, her mother clearly not having picked up upon any of the underlying subtleties that Petunia had laced her short sentence with.

"She called me a witch!" Lily tried to reason, beginning to turn from both of them and walking back towards their house, slightly annoyed at the predictable outcome of Petunia's provoking.

"You are a witch dear." Her mother said with a small smile spreading over her face. It was true, Lily was a witch. And she had spent four glorious year at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in the Pyrenees, learning all about the anything but normal skills she possessed, those which her sister did not. The all - girls school had been her home away from home, a place she felt accepted and wanted, praised for her skills and highly level of achievement, something Petunia could not have hoped to achieve. She was what was known as a Muggle. A non - magical person, just like her parents. Yet they were all, in some way or another, distantly related to magical blood, for here she was, Lily, her wand in her back pocket and knowledge beyond measure tucked up inside her mind, one thing she could always keep to herself. Her parents were indeed proud of her achievements, and even Petunia was intrigued by this once she had received her letter from Beauxbatons, demanding that the headmistress accept her into the school as well. Yet she had kindly been rejected, and instead turned her attention to the wizarding side of Lily's world, corresponding frequently via owl with many of the boys attending Durmstrang Institute. Yet Lily know this would not curb Petunia's jealous streak, with her sister taking every possible opportunity to make her aware of it.

"She doesn't mean it like that though!" Lily threw back over her shoulder as she slowly stalked her way back to the house, only to receive a rather rude shove from behind as Petunia flounced past her.

"Of course I do Lil' Lils! You're my favourite." She half sung out, flinging her arms about and batting her eyelids wildly, before giggling to herself and slipping back into the household. Lily pursed her lips, refusing to allow herself to throw anything back at her sister, drawing a deep breath. She thought instead of her happy place, the Beauxbatons Palace, a beautiful chateau surrounded by beautiful gardens and fountains crafted out of the surrounding mountains, and the wood nymphs that would serenade her as she passed through the halls on long summer days.

"See, I'm sure I didn't bring you up to say such vile things." Her mother's voice broke through her daydreaming and she turned to find her half hanging out of the window and giving her a thoroughly disapproving look. Deciding to again refuse to retort she gathered up the last of the boxes and followed her sister back towards the car.

"It's all this stress. I can't handle it anymore." Lily muttered to herself, balancing the unusually heavy bags over her forearms and stumbling around slightly. Petunia however had stopped in her tracks, staring at her with an incredibly strange look upon her face, a small twisted smile and a twinkle in her eyes.

"Such a whiner…We're going home! You should be well chuffed, you can go back to your boyfriend!" She called out, Lily herself also now stopping and rounding upon her sister. Severus Snape. A boy she had once known and spent her evenings with before they had left for France. He too had magical ability, but had since begun attending a separate school to her, the one that Lily was now transferring to. She loved him dearly, but honestly thought of him as nothing more than a friend. A small boy, with dark hair and pale features, and a kind heart despite his obvious bad background. Though Lily had never enquired as to his home life, she could see the longing in his eyes when he had seen her own family's interaction, and indeed, her heart went out to his neglectful suffering.

"He. He is not my boyfriend." She said feebly, and Petunia fully ignored her remark, "Hey! HEY! You listening to me?" Lily tried once more, offended by her sisters smirking and her ignorance, "He is not my boyfriend!" She insisted a little more, Petunia having move to stand barely inches from her, looking down to her with an ever widening grin upon her face.

"Oh, of course! He was sniffing round you from the day he met you, took an entire country to get him to go away!" Really, Petunia knew nothing about Severus, not like Lily did, so in a way, she could forgive her ignorance, aware of how strange it must have looked to an outsider.

"He can't help the way he's been brought up!" She said defiantly, though knowing inwardly that it would have little difference in her sister's opinion.

"Weirdo…" She muttered, a rather repulsed look passing over her face. Yet is soon spread into a gleeful smile as she jumped up and down on the spot a little, a kind of wild expression falling over her, "BUT! Anything is better than here. The boys at my school are awful, and there aren't any at yours. But now…" Lily knew exactly where this was going, Petunia's obsession with marrying a wizard fuelling the oncoming train of desire.

"No. I am not hooking you up with anyone from my school." Lily added flatly, ignoring the hurt and miserable look her sister mustered.

"And why not? I am beautiful after all!" Petunia commented nonchalantly, looking thoroughly pleased with herself.

"Gross." Lily feigned retching, looking away from her sister in apparent disgust and slight envy.

"No dear, that's you." She threw at Lily casually, returning to her starry eyed moment as she gazed into space, "It's be a great opportunity to find myself a strong, powerful, influential wizard. They'd woo me, give me anything I want, and care for me for life!"

"…You need to stop and come back to reality for a while…" Lily pulled away slightly, a little disturbed by her sister's wild imagination, wondering what exactly went on inside her head sometimes. Yet, she ignored Lily and continued in her thoughts, her face falling into a slackened peace.

"Here, you take this." With that Petunia threw all she was holding at Lily, who only just manage to catch it, miraculously managing to cling to all of it, "Well, to the car with you!" And with that she flounced away, slipping herself comfortably into the back seat and making herself appear extremely content. Biting her bottom lip a little, Lily hurriedly dropped the rest of her luggage into the boot before her father appeared behind her to close it up gently. Giving him a small smile he tousled her hair lightly, the two of them sharing a small moment in which he told her silently to calm down and not let it get to her. Her father was more than aware of Lily and Petunia, who they were and how they acted. But undoubtedly felt the same was as she did in comparison to Petunia, as he himself was shadowed by the beauty of his wife, his features shared with his youngest daughter only. Lily took a deep breath and then followed her father around the side of the car, pulling the door open with rather more force than she had intended to,

"If anything, at least at school, I can get away from you." Lily flung herself into the car, pulling her seatbelt around herself and slamming the door behind her. Folding her arms into one another she faced the window determinedly, refusing to let her sister provoke her any further.

~x~x~x~

"Lily! Get the door!" Came her mother's voice, floating to her from the kitchen, as Lily stood at the top of the staircase, about to make her way across the landing with the final box for her room. She turned, looking down towards the door where Petunia was busy reapplying her eye makeup. Lily sighed heavily,

"Mama!" She called back, groaning a little under the weight of the items she was carrying, "Tuney is like right next to it!" Petunia turned and flashed a smile her way, something Lily truly despised at times,

"Lilian!" Came another cry and she huffed, dropping the box suddenly and turning her, heading back down the stairs, where Petunia had passed back by her,

"Sorry sis, my hands are full!" She floated away, a sickly sweet sound coming from her lips. Lily loved her sister dearly, and would indeed do anything for her under most circumstances, yet she could not help feeling immense rivalry towards the elder sibling. And at times, indeed, words slipped from her lips that she truly did not mean, but could not help but childishly say,

"My hands will be full with your throat if you don't shift…" Lily muttered, ripping the door open suddenly, aware that she no doubt looked like a deranged animal having escaped captivity. Yet she straightened immediately, greeted by a taller, much older blond haired pale skinned handsome woman, who was smartly smiling widely at her, a glint of mischief hanging in her hazel eyes. "Um, hello?" She croaked out, the woman giving a small chuckle,

"Yes! Sorry! We saw you were moving in, I'm from across the road. Mrs Dorea Potter, and my son, James." She said proudly, her demanding and yet soft voice a pleasant surprise to Lily, who felt suddenly at ease by her. However, she suddenly realised that a boy stood beside her, completely oblivious as to how she had missed him originally. A tall, handsome, thin boy with hazel eyes like his mothers and untidy black hair that stuck up wildly at the back, an indefinable aura of having being well cared for and adored about him. Lily's breath caught slightly, he looked wonderful to her, unlike any boy that she had encountered before, a mystical air about him that drew her to him slightly.

"Um, sorry, err. Lily. Just Lily…Evans! Lily Evans." She managed to blurt out, groaning inwardly at her inability to string a sentence together, mentally kicking herself for her ineptitude. Yet the two of their guests seemed not to mind in the slightest, both of them looking at her rather happily,

"You're a funny girl aren't you?" Mrs Potter continued, genuinely seeming to find interest in Lily's spacey attitude, which caused her to blush uncontrollably, an awkward silence falling over them as she fidgeted on the spot.

"Lilian!" The voice of her mother moved over them once more, snapping Lily to her senses, as she turned her head back in the direction of the open kitchen door,

"Mama?" She asked, her voice coming out a little more child – like than she had originally intended, feeling incredibly foolish. She had managed to come across a truly beautiful boy, and had managed to make a massive fool of herself, and no doubt now, her mother would too.

"LILIAN!" Came another call, Lily now completely ignoring both of the people standing upon her doorstep, screaming back in her mother's direction,

"MAMA!" There came a slight pause, in which Lily assumed her mother was waiting for a further reply, she continued, "I am answering the door like you asked, now what do you want?" Instead, she appeared suddenly in the threshold, an apron draped around her and her hair positively electric.

"Who is it?" She asked sweetly, a large, forced smile being pushed in Lily's direction.

"Neighbours." Lily replied simply, swinging the door wide to reveal the Potters to her mother, who gushed suddenly and flapped her arms around wildly.

"Oh, oh, oh, do excuse me! I was rearranging the vegetables." She hurried forwards and towards Mrs Potter, wringing her hand and pulling both her and her son into their home. "Please excuse my youngest, she's incredibly rude sometimes." She flustered, Lily appearing thoroughly bored as she leant against the wall by the mirror Petunia had been pruning herself in only moments earlier.

"Mama, it's called wit." Lily added casually, though her mother rather ignored her comment, pushing their new guests across the hallway and towards their living room,

"Please, come in, make yourselves comfortable. I hadn't realised there were many people around here, I assumed the street was still fairly empty." She continued as she and Mrs Potter pushed on and seated themselves together, leaving Lily with James in the doorway. Feeling incredibly awkward, she could barely think of anything today, incredibly angry with herself for being so flustered over nothing,

"Um, hi." She muttered out, a little surprised when he turned and flashed her a dazzlingly sly smile,

"James." He stated rather formally, Lily unconsciously taking her hair into her hands and winding it steadily around her fingers.

"Lily." She replied, falling back into quiet as she continued twiddling her long locks.

"Not Lilian then?" He said jokingly, Lily snapping out of her slight daze and dropping her hair, turning to stare at him rather rudely that he would dare to say such a thing. He gave a light chuckle and then began to head towards his mother, casually throwing behind him, "Cute." Before sitting down beside her comfortably. Lily's heart twanged, just a little, feeling a fleeting spark pass between them, her face heating up at his causal joke, feeling incredibly flustered because of him.

"Lilian!" Her mother's voice drifted over once more, "Go get your sister, we have guests!" She said, rather softly for her, yet it made Lily no less inclined to do as she was told.

"Do I have to?" She protested, knowing exactly how the princess of the family would arrive into the room and steal the show. Yet, indeed, her mother was persistent,

"Lilian!" Biting her lip a little and huffing loudly, she turned, moving from the room and up the stairs, directly towards Petunia's room.

"Stupid sister…" Lily muttered under her breath, pushing open the door to find her sister casually reading a magazine upon her new bed, "Tuney, Mama wants you to come say hi to the woman across the road and her kid." She threw out casually, Petunia barely even acknowledging her presence as she continued reading.

"When you say kid..?" She asked rather slowly, Lily rolling her eyes in disbelief, knowing exactly what she was asking,

"Fifteen, sixteen maybe." Petunia sat up instantly and turned to face Lily, a small smile creeping across her lips,

"Hot?" She asked, seemingly rather giddy at the new prospect of male attention under her very own roof. Lily sighed inwardly, hating her sisters rather demanding male rating system, but complying regardless,

"Sevenish maybe." She said, Petunia seemingly becoming even more excited and standing up, apparently thinking incredibly hard. Lily really did not have time for such things, smiling inwardly at her previous encounter with James, having felt at least some kind of connection with him before her sister was even aware of his existence. "Go and see for yourself, Tuney." She added casually, unaware that Petunia had already left and was halfway down the corridor heading straight for the living room,

"I hate that name." She shouted back to Lily, who grinned a little Her pet name for her sister was something that she had actually treasured, and although perhaps Petunia had grown out of it, she had not, and much preferred using it to her actual name. Lily let out a small laugh, at her own childishness and then herself followed downstairs, taking her time and smiling to herself. Yet as she appeared once more into the lounge, her face fell at the sight of Petunia, arm in arm with James and heading out of the opposite door, "Where'd you get to sweetie?" She asked casually, causing Lily's stomach to turn a little, looking to James for some kind of explanation. Deciding not to reply, she instead simply continued to stare at the pair of them, both smiling widely at her as she sat down beside Mrs Potter. She was sure she had felt at least something pass between them, but perhaps, he, James, had not. Indeed he appeared utterly besotted with Petunia already, "I'm just off to show James the garden. Will you accompany us?" She continued, already leading him towards the door, barely giving Lily any time to respond,

"I-" Lily began, but was cut off, in reality having already known that there would be no further opportunity for her to spend any time with James once Petunia had enter the room, in all her stunning glory. A strength and shining light that Lily knew that she could never hope to possess.

"I thought not. We'll be going now!" And they disappeared from view, a distant giggle heard as they exited the house, leaving Lily alone with the two older women.

"Your daughter certainly is forward." Mrs Potter said kindly, nodding towards the empty space her son and Petunia had just vacated. Lily's mother seemed incredibly pleased by this, though Lily herself could not fathom as to whether this was intended to be a genuine compliment. She turned to the strange woman beside her, incredibly intrigued by her and finding herself rather pleased that she had encountered her that day, hoping that perhaps they would come to know each other a little more over the coming weeks.

"She's very charismatic!" Mrs Evans smiled widely, before giving Lily a genuine caring smile, as if to reassure her than she too had her own wonderfully notable attributes. Yet it was Mrs Potter who spoke directly to her,

"And you're a funny one aren't you?" She repeated lightly, seemingly incredibly amused with Lily, who blushed a little and smiled lightly,

"I try…" She commented quietly, but perked up suddenly at Mrs Potter's response,

"Brilliant!" She beamed, Lily falling back into the sofa, suddenly at ease with both women, thoughts of James and Petunia leaving her mind.

~x~x~x~

It was official, Lily felt an idiot. Having not had time to purchase a set of black robes such as the numerous gabbling eleven year olds around her, she had instead been forced to wear her old Beauxbatons uniform on her first day of attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In honesty, she loved her uniform, a knee length, long sleeved, empire waist periwinkle charmeuse silk dress accompanied by matching blue hat and capelet, which made her feel every inch a lady in France. But now, she just felt plain stupid. Not at all helped by the passing students who were sniggering or pointing in her direction. She simple wander the ground to swallow her, barely even realising as he name drifted over her from a deep, masculine voice, "Lily?" And then again, with no doubt it was her who was being addressed, "Lily Evans!" She turned suddenly to see a boy, rather much taller than she had remembered, but looking the exact same as she recalled all of those years ago, though now accompanied by two shifty looking student stood just behind him.

"Severus!" She smiled widely and pushed passed the children in front of her to gain access to him, "How are you?" She asked enthusiastically, glad to at least see one friendly face in such an open and unfamiliar face as she threw her arms around his neck and pulling him down to her height in a tight hug, one that he obviously seemed extremely uncomfortable to be a part of. "It's been ages!" She pulled away from him, still smiling widely, him looking a little taken aback, but thoroughly pleased with her appearance.

"Great. Great now. You? I didn't know you were coming back, you didn't say." He stumbled out, seemingly barely able to string words together, which Lily found rather cute, she had to admit it. He had barely changed, still the same boy she had known before, but perhaps with just a little more confidence than she could remember.

"Oh, last minute thing, crazy! My grandmother had a fall, Mama decided we should come back to England to be closer to them." She blabbered bag, her hands going a bit crazy as she tried to explain herself away, aware that her actions could possibly have upset him a little and not wanting to hurt his feelings. Yet he seemed not to mind, a large grin pulling at his face as he nodded a little at her,

"But you're back? You're staying back?" He asked eagerly, Lily relaxing a little more, a sweeping of happiness falling over her gracefully.

"Yeah. For good." She smiled, suddenly becoming very aware of Severus's two friends leering at her from behind him, her smile faltering and she took a step back in the direction she had originally come. They were tall boys, thin and gaunt looking, with piercing black eyes and hunched figures. Severus gave a small cough, clearly having sensed the tense silence that had overtaken them.

"What you doing now then? You're with the first years…" He tried, pulling Lily out of her unnerved stare and bringing her back to him. Her brain engaging finally, she replied,

"Still need to be sorted. I feel slightly…Awkward…" She gave a quick look behind her to the numerous new students who were chatting excitedly to one another, giggling at one another, or pushing each other closer towards the great door that were yet to open for them. Severus took her hand suddenly, bringing her back to face him, a small smile tugging at the corners of his thin lips.

"I really hope you're in Slytherin. We could do loads together! It'd be awesome!" She smiled back at him, not really having much preference as to which of the four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin, as long as she wasn't rejected from the school completely. Thought she had to admit, it would be nice to have some starting company during her time in the school, as long as she didn't have to spend any time with his discomforting friends. A crisp voice drifted over from behind her, instructing those waiting to be sorted to being lining up readying themselves to go into the Great Hall.

"Oh, I have to go! See you soon, okay?" She said hurriedly, turning from him and waving over her shoulder, standing at the back of the small children that appeared as a sea before her. It wasn't long before the entrance hall had emptied of all students but them and a small silence had fallen over them. A small creaking and a pair of large oak doors began to swing inwards, a casting of light piercing through the darkness as those in front of her began moving forwards. She was instantly reminded of how much she stuck out, a wave of black pushing forwards, and her, a beacon of bright blue, almost twice the size of the others and feeling utterly ridiculous. Yet she soon forgot her discomfort as stepped into the hall, having never imagined anything could have ever compared to Beauxbatons, it was simply splendid. It was dimly lit by thousands of floating candles, hovering, unsuspended over four long tables that were lined with students. Glittering gold plates and goblet filled the tables, alongside the long teachers table at the very end of the hall where Lily was heading. A velvety black ceiling above her was dotted with stars, as thought there was no ceiling at all, but the hall could open up for the heavens above and allow the lights of the night to shower in. She was almost lost in the enchanting ceiling and unable to hear her name being called as the hundreds of faces in the hall turned directly towards her.

"Lilian Evans?" The voice said once more, snapping Lily back to her senses as she looked up towards the owner of the voice, finally registering who had been speaking to her. A tall, black – haired witch in emerald – green robes, with a very stern face, giving Lily the impression that she could only be someone not to be meddled with. "Up here please." She rasped, a look of impatience drifting over her as she titled her head to one, side, her hat looking even more crooked than it had before. She gave a short sharp nod which Lily returned, and she climbed a few stairs, propping herself up onto a small stool where she sat patiently, feeling a little nervous as an overly tattered black hat was placed on top of her head, over her own hat which had been pushed down, thoroughly covering her face. It twitched into life instantly, humming into her head, yet without much time elapsing at all, its brim opened wide, and in a great booming voice it shouted,

"GRYFFINDOR!" And with that the entire table to her right erupted with applause, much more so than it had done with the first years that had since joined the table. With that, the hat was whipped from her head and she began walking towards an empty space around the centre of the table, sliding herself under and making herself a little more comfortable. Looking back to the headmaster, his long silvery beard and twinkly eyes giving her a great sense of peace, trust and comfort. He smiled widely over all of them, and clapped his hands twice. Instantly, food appeared suddenly upon the table, piled high and flagons brimming with pumpkin juice. Smiling widely she pulled her hat fully off of her head, her hair cascading down her back as she eagerly picked up her knife and fork.

"Evans?" Came a rather surprised voice, causing Lily to flip up her head suddenly to face the boy directly opposite her. It took her a fair few moments to exactly who had spoken to her, and when she did, Lily froze, her jaw having practically hit the floor. Sat, directly across from her, his hand halfway through his messy hair, staring at her over the top of a pair of rounded spectacles, an amused look dancing over his face. Lily leant forwards and snatched his glasses right from his face and moved towards him, their noses practically touching,

"YOU!" She gasped out disbelievingly, rocking back into her own seat, her mouth still wide open. Potter. James Potter. James Potter from across the street was a wizard, in her year, at her school. Lily's brain was practically in over drive, unable to even comprehend that he was sat across from her, the boy that Petunia wanted, was in front of her. She gasped a little as he leaned over, taking back his glasses and sliding them back onto his face,

"James is just fine." He said coolly, a smirk spreading over his face. Lily could barely believe it, finally, she had managed to spend time doing something that her sister wanted and could not have, and in truth, she was secretly slightly thrilled. Not about him in particular, but that she had something that Petunia truly never could. She could share in the magical world by dating a wizard, but not now, not with the one that she wanted to. Her brain slightly addled, she spoke without thinking,

"Why are you here?" She asked rather ephemerally, her voice sounding distant even to her.

"Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing?" He replied with a small chuckle, beginning to pull an immense proportion of food onto his plate. Yet he stopped suddenly, his cutlery placed neatly down as he turned to look at her intently, "Wait. Wait. Wait." A devilish grin pulled at his lips as he shuffled further under the table, "If, you're here, where's that delicious sister of yours?" Lily practically choked upon the carrot she had just put into her mouth, having a minor meltdown, something which James appeared to not have noticed.

"Oh, you are vile." She choked out, looking at his ludicrously. Though again, seemed not to notice, until a boy next to him turned, clapping him on the back and giving Lily a raised eyebrow.

"Whoa, Prongs, who's the ginge?" Said the rather tall, well-built, darkly handsome man with fair skin, long, lustrous black hair, striking grey eyes, who had an air of "casual elegance" about him, despite his obvious playfully malicious side. Lily's face dropped instantly, thoroughly displeased with his comment,

"It's not ginger, it's red." She stated flatly, readjusting herself and attempting to continue eating as though the rude boy had not appeared. Yet the boy seemed to ignore her comment, instead turning again to James and continuing,

"Tell me that this is not the one you've been going on about from across the street?" Lily's stomach plummeted, they were talking about Petunia. She had had her small moment of glee at her one up upon her sister, and had paid the prices for it. She still had hold upon the situation despite not even being present. Though in reality, Lily should have expected such things, she had always come second to Petunia, no matter how unintentionally.

"No. Not this one. She has an older sister." James added, his tone barely even changing, clearly no longer interested in Lily's appearance in the Great Hall. Yet the other boy had not lost as much interest, turning directly to her, attracting the attention of another couple of boys on either side of him and James,

"Ginger and blue don't really go you know." He continued, clearly revelling in the fact that Lily's patience was steadily wearing thinner and thinner. She rounded on him, fully determined to throw every insult she possibly could in his direction, but being cut through suddenly by another, squeakier voice from one of the other boys, a short, rounded boy with mousy hair and small piggy eyes.

"I think you're quite pretty." She looked at him quizzically, feeling seemingly amused at his interjection, and a little grateful that at least someone didn't think she was a complete waste of time.

"Not bad, is the correct phrase there Wormtail!" Came the tall boy once again, clearly pleased with himself, and sat joyfully watching Lily squirm.

"She's still awful in comparison to her sister." James continued, clearly still in a daze over Petunia. Lily huffed, her stomach tightening as she sat, extremely annoyed surrounded by the gaggle of adolescent boys.

"I am sat here you know." Lily said harshly, her lips pursed tightly, thought the boys indeed took little more notice of her, and she instead, and filled her plate with food once more.

* * *

_Japan's Arc Angel_

_x_


	2. Chapter Two: Settling

_So here's another chapter! I'm not really sure if this is worth carrying on with, but I thought I'd give it a chance. Your thoughts really are appreciated, and reviews mean the world to me! I have quite a few ideas where to take this one, so please review :) Many thanks, Happy Reading!_

* * *

Chapter Two: Settling

It was quite in the Common Room when Lily had returned that evening after a thoroughly unriveting three hour class regarding Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration, a subject Lily had read about many years ago and had persuaded her mind to wander during that day. It had been almost two weeks since her arrival and, at most, she had kept to herself, not really bothering to venture from Gryffindor tower unless it was required of her. Throwing her bag casually onto a small wooden table, she had whipped off her new black cloak, her house zeal disappearing beneath the material as it had folded back over the chair she fell back into. After loosening her scarlet and gold tie and taking off her grey jumped she had sat for a while, a little puzzled as to why she had felt the need to actually sit there and not return to her dormitory. It had become a habit over the past few days for her to return from and busy day and spend time alone. Granted, she had instantly been accepted by Alice Prewett, a girl one year her senior, round faced with dark, short hair and smouldering eyes, accompanied by a smile that could melt a thousand hearts, hiding her fierce nature that Lily could easily see in herself; as well as Marlene McKinnon, a tall blond – haired, blue – eyed girl in the year below her who was rather quiet, but understanding and accepting of Lily's appearance in their dorm, Lily suspecting that there was much more to her than she had originally let on. And although her other roommates Dorcas Meadows, a small, dark featured witch and Emmeline Vance who was extremely pale despite her black hair, had not exactly brushed her away, neither had they given her more than a distant greeting as they sat huddled together, more often than not, surrounded by mountains of parchment and book, already studying heavily for their final year exams, for which Lily could not blame them. Lily sighed, deflated suddenly, as she thought back to her friends back in France, and how her situation had befallen her there. At Beauxbaton's Academy she had escaped Petunia, had been a star student by anybody's standards, but had allowed herself to be wild. The resident tomboy of her friends, the kind prankster, the one they all turned to in their time of need whether for homework or for a friend. She had been needed. Respected there, by teachers and student body alike. Had lived up to her parents expectations of becoming an esteemed witch, despite her frequent clashes with her sister once she returned home. And now, as she sat staring about her, the quiet chatter of the circular Common Room floating over her, everything seemed so foreign, even the scarlet tapestry decorated walls of various witches and wizards that were no doubt in some way connected with the house; from the squishy armchairs to the large bulletin board to which several notices were already pinned, and the large fireplace which took up most of one side of the room, carelessly roaring and spitting to itself as a few scattered first years lay lazily in front of it. A sickening feeling growing in her stomach, she gulped loudly, pulling her bag into her, and pulled out her ink pot, quill and several sheets of parchment, followed by a single photograph, four girls staring back up at her, waving furiously and jumping all over one another, a summer month that had long since passed her. Smiling sadly she dipped her quill, positioning herself ready to begin writing, stopping suddenly as her mind blanked completely. What exactly was she supposed to say exactly, say to the friends she had left behind for so long already. Hearing the portrait of the Fat Lady swing open, the entrance to the Common Room, a small circular hole, was revealed, a cluster of boys staggering inside, laughing jovially together and pushing one another around. With James Potter and the dark – haired boy who had insulted her the first time they met, Sirius Black, leading the way, the two of them, followed by the mousey boy Peter Pettigrew and a tired – looking, tall, brown – haired, brown – eyed boy she knew as the Prefect of Gryffindor, Remus Lupin, shooed the first years from the fire, sitting there themselves instead. She gave a small snort of disgust, her eyes lingering upon Potter perhaps just a little longer than she had intended to before turning back to her unwritten letter. Yet it was only moments before the chair across from her scraped across the floor, finding Potter now sat looking directly at her. "So." He began casually, Lily's eyes flickering up at him casually.

"So?" She asked, an eyebrow raised at him, a little unnerved at him staring at her so intently. She huffed and placed her quill down, lacing her fingers together and looking right back at him. She could feel her cheeks heating slightly, but flatly refused to break from the nerves steadily wriggling around her body.

"Well…How does that happen then?" He asked, not looking away from her once. It was strange, in truth, for him to have approached her, since they had not directly spoken since her first night there. Instead, she had watched him carefully from afar, figuring him out as slyly as she could, with as little input from anyone else as she could afford. From what she had gathered, he rarely left the side of the three friends who were shrieking with laughter by the fireplace, particularly the boy named Black, of whom he seemed to share something a little deeper with than the other two. But Potter himself, was not necessarily the perfect gentleman he had been when with his mother in her home, he was, if anything, a bit of a bully to those he did not like, was certainly far too confident for his own good and extremely arrogant. The qualities Lily had long since despised in men. And yet, she had to admit, he had stirred something within her. A longing. A need. To her, he truly was a beautiful man, despite his obvious numerous flaws. It amazed her that he had managed to progress to his fifth year, for all the attention he paid in class, firstly through his own sheer laziness and secondly due to the flock of girls that seemed to swarm wherever he went, inflating his ever growing ego to a point of which his head could scarcely cross the threshold of any door before him anymore. In reality, he was a strange boy. An intriguing boy. And one that Lily was eager to decipher.

"Excuse me?" She replied rather nonchalantly, having no clue as to what he was even talking about, though she had guessed it wasn't going to be something as simple as the weather.

"How is it, that you, are a witch?" He leant back in his chair, still staring at her as he pulled his hands behind his head. Despite his calmness, Lily could feel her eye twitching, her earlier thought retracted, replaced by only the need to kick the remaining legs of his chair as hard as she could, in the hopes of him leaving her alone.

"Do you want me to smack you?" She asked angrily, standing from her chair slightly, both hands still upon her table as she angrily towered over him, her red locks falling over her face and giving the impressions of a father vicious and unkempt vixen. His mouth had fallen open, yet it was not he who spoke next, swinging forwards on his chair suddenly with a loud clatter.

"How rude…" She turned to find Black slinking his ay over to them, a cheeky grin plastered over his face as he slipped a thin arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him.

"Oh, and you're not?" She spat back, trying to peel his fingers from her blouse but his grip was relentless. She earned a small chuckle from him, one that she didn't really appreciate, though it relaxed her slightly, reminding her of how she had purposely done the same to her friends back in France, just for her own pure amusement.

"Well…No not really." Said Sirius, ruffling her hair a little and pushing her back into her seat, turning to stand behind James and leaning heaving upon his back, digging his elbows into his friends spine, "It's quite an adequate question I believe." James began nodding, the two of them looking to one another and then directly back at her.

"It's a stupid question." Lily stated, dragging her parchment back towards her, intent upon ignoring the two of them. She was almost certain the four of them had been discussing her before they had entered the tower, and the two before her had taken it upon themselves to play out their earlier conversation with her,

"Not at all." James continued, a sudden serene expression falling over his face as he turned, nodding to Sirius, who was doing so back, "Petunia is beautiful." Lily felt sick. They had come to speak to her about her sister, though really, she should have suspected so. She knew Petunia had written to James since the start of term, something she had never done for Lily, had even made the effort to use an owl, no doubt in a bid to impress him further, sending him through a picture of herself, which he had gladly shared with most of his friends. Just for once, she wished she could have a bit of freedom from her Muggle life, just for a little while, to be herself.

"As I am aware." She said coldly, though this did not deter either of them,

"But she's not a witch." Sirius stated, Lily's head turning back up to them, a strained smile upon her face,

"This is going somewhere isn't it?" She asked in an overly sweet voice, Sirius looking positively repulsed by it, as thought, if he could, he would have caught her words and stuffed them back down her throat. Yet James appeared to have not noticed, his eyes wondering to the ceiling as he spoke,

"I just don't understand. She's practically perfect, but we're separated by schools. And we got you instead. It's been driving me crazy." He commented lightly, pushing his spectacles back onto his face roughly and raking his fingers through his hair shiftily. Sirius however was continuing to look at her, seeing her face reddening as she hissed, in a low, dangerous voice,

"I seriously will hit you, you know." James seemed to dismiss her comment again, but Sirius snorted, clearly trying to restrain himself from laughing too much as he released James and walked up to her,

"You really are rude." He stated, smacking her around the back of the head, and barely giving her any time to react before he wound his arm around her neck and into the crook of his elbow, pulling her sideways into his chest, "I like you!" He chuckled, Lily unable to keep the slight grin from her face, her eyes flashing towards James. Though she only reached disappointment as he continued to stare at the ceiling, "Who are these three?" Sirius asked suddenly, releasing her and reaching over her shoulder and picking up the picture of her friends, turning it over in his hands,

"Will you kindly refrain from touching my things?" She attempted to snatch it back from him, though he held it out of her reach, a devilish smile upon his face. He looked to her parchment, where she had managed to lazily scribble the word 'Dear' and nothing more,

"You writing to them?" He asked intriguingly, but Lily simply rolled her eyes in annoyance,

"Obviously." He leant over her, holding the picture straight out in front of them with his arms on either side of her face and his chin digging rather annoyingly into her shoulder, James trying to peer over the top of his hands to take a look himself.

"Who's this one?" Sirius thumbed a girl to the far left, a short, dirty blond – haired girl who had a small, shy smile upon her face as Lily clung to her back, laughing and stumbling along together,

"Adella." Lily replied, pointing to her just as the two of them hit the floor, giggling furiously, "Elaina." She pointed to the next girl along who was pointing at the fallen two in hysterics, her brown hair pulled nearly into a bun, her already prominent cheek bones accentuated even further the more she laughed, "And Colette." She said finally, the last, white – haired girl busily adjusting her hat and looking mildly amused at the scene before her. Lily gave a small smile, reminiscing about this day, their last day together before she had left for England.

"Who's the ginge?" Sirius jabbed her harshly in the ribs, and though a spark of fury lit inside her, she could barely hang onto it, a slight flicker of joy lacing over it.

"It's red!" She protested, finding it odd how she enjoyed his teasing slightly, much more acceptable of it than she was of James', him seemingly so much more irritating than Sirius, despite how much more terrible Sirius was with her.

"You had hot friends." He concluded, Lily immediately dragging her bag from beside her and hitting him with it as hard as she could with it. He stumbled back a bit, a painfully hurt expression upon his face, that soon turned to amusement as he dragged James from his chair, returning to the fireplace, the two of them muttering to themselves about 'anger management' and 'bloody redheads', before collapsing into laughter once more.

~x~x~x~

Lily sat down quietly near the front of the classroom, having arrived rather early for Professor Slughorn's Potion's lesson, finding herself in a large, square – shaped empty room, into which several large tables had been tightly squeezed, behind which clusters of chairs had been bundled. It was dark, just like most of the dungeons, a cold, damp air about it despite its obvious humidity. Pulling off her robes, she threw it behind her, pulling out her text book, 'One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi', and several pieces of stationary, sitting down and flicking forward to the section on Alihotsy in preparation for their brewing of a draught by the same name. It was not exactly something Lily needed to research, having always had a natural flare for the brewing and stewing of magical mixtures, though often liked to refresh her memory before embarking upon any kind of cauldron related antics. "Um…Can I sit here?" Came a rather quiet voice, Lily having not even realised that another being had entered the room, turning to find a dark skinned, dark featured girl smiling shyly at her, her beetle – like eyes shining at her from over the top of her oval glasses. She looked rather small from the way she held herself, books clutched tightly into her chest, her hair sticking out at odd angles, most likely due to the abundant amount on ringlets she had attempted to restrain with a hair band.

"Er…Sure. Whatever." Lily replied, shuffling over slightly to make a little more room for her, the girl sitting down gratefully. She seemed to be pondering how to begin, perhaps a little sceptical of her choice to speak to her, coughing a little instead. Lily raised an eyebrow at her, and surprisingly, she seemed to relax a little, setting out her things and a tight smile crossing her thin lips.

"You're friends with Snape aren't you?" She asked, her voice a little louder now, a little harsher than before, drawing Lily's attention.

"Yes…" She replied, a little more cautious as to where their conversation would now end, "You know Severus?" She asked, the girl fidgeting slightly and looking round to her, an air of slight embarrassment about her.

"Well, not really. We have issues. But we're in the same house, so I guess." She pulled her robes round, showing Lily her serpentine Slytherin badge, and then hastily straightening herself out. Lily suppressed a smile, having seen the exact same reaction from Severus when he had shown her his school robes before she left for France, his mother having been certain he would be sorted into Slytherin, which, of course, he had been. Lily however saw no issues with whichever house a student was sorted into, each having their own admirable qualities, and had come to find that some students had been condemned to the more negative qualities their house had been associated with, particularly the Slytherin students. And yes, Lily had to admit that many of them were indeed less than desirable, but this did not necessarily mean that all of them were so.

"Lily Evans." She held out her hand suddenly to the girl, seemingly taking her by surprise a little, it taking her a few seconds to respond and take Lily's hand in her own.

"Emma Vanity." She stated, releasing Lily and pulling out a rather battered looking quill, which seemed to have, at some point, been broken in various places, no doubt making it extremely difficult to use. As the silence took over them, Lily bent back into her bag, pulling out a brand new one and holding it out to her, perhaps for a little longer than was comfortable, before Emma nodded and took it from her. "Strange." She commented, Lily feeling rather confused now, having made a nice gesture only to be knocked back slightly,

"What is?" She asked, Emma looking at her rather casually, an interested smirk gracing her features,

"Slytherin's and Gryffindor's as friends." She said suddenly, Lily rolling her eyes dramatically. That. Again. In the few weeks she had been at the school, she had heard far too many students warning her of such interactions, and although it had deterred her slightly, she had not resisted visiting Severus when she could, even though she had found him free to spend time with her only twice thus far.

"I see no reason why not." She commented flippantly, closing her textbook with a slight snap, noting how battered Emma's seemed in comparison to hers,

"And you're a Muggleborn." She continued, Lily recoiling slightly. Yes, she was Muggleborn, though she had never deemed herself lower than anyone else, least of all those who believed to be worth more than she was. She snorted a little, not best pleased with Emma's comment, though understanding of it. They were supposed to hate each other. In the eyes of the rest of the student body, they were not supposed to even talk to one another, except for making snide comments and throwing hurtful accusations at one another. Yet, Lily instead gave a joyous grin, seeing no problem with the girl in actuality, but an opportunity to create a tempestuous, yet fun relationship with another student, regardless of house boundaries.

"Are you gonna carry on being bitchy?" Lily looked sideways at her, seeing Emma peering at her through her glasses, an expression of uncertainty upon her face, as though she were unsure of whether Lily was joking or being serious, "Or do I need to smack you into another nationality?" She asked, Emma's face relaxing suddenly as she sat back into her seat, a hollow laugh leaving her. The door behind them opened and a trickle of their classmates began filing in, a couple sending them questioning looks, most ignoring them completely.

"You know what, if I ever fancy a change, I'll let you know." She chuckled, Lily joining her, actually realising that her threat was a ridiculous one, embarrassed that it had even left her mouth, "Unlike most of my house, I'm not overly bothered. In truth, it's most likely I'm only here because the rest of my family was." Emma commented wistfully, looking towards the ceiling and sounding much further away than she actually way. Lily thought carefully for a few moments, watching as Professor Slughorn swept into the room, an enormously fat, short, bald man with an immense stomach, so large that the buttons on his waistcoat looked as though then could have popped off at any moment and struck Lily directly between her eyes, if she was not engulfed by his gigantic, silver, walrus - like moustache beforehand.

"You say that. But I'm pretty sure that the Black boy is in Gryffindor and all of his family were in Slytherin." She commented, Emma having suddenly stiffened, her eyes looking at something out of sight, just outside of the classroom door,

"True…" She mumbled, pulling a wide smile at Lily, beginning to repack her things away and gather up her belongings, "But I'd like to think, that out of everything, this is my house because I'm resourceful, ambitious, you know, rather than the whole, evil thing." Lily looked at her, rather puzzled by her sudden need to depart, Emma holding the quill back out towards her, which she politely declined.

"Well maybe not all of you are as bad as people say." Lily nodded to her, a slight smile now coming back over face as she turned to hurry away, stopping and then turning back to her,

"Listen, I have Quidditch training after this, but, do you fancy meeting up later? I can bring Severus too if you'd like?" Emma was looking continuously back over her shoulder towards the exit, Lily eyeing her suspiciously, completely confused as to what was actually happening,

"Yeah." She mumbled out, noticing how three rather cool looking Slytherin girls swept into the room, setting themselves up at the back of the classroom, "Sounds good. Um…" Though Emma just nodded hurriedly, babbling out quickly,

"Entrance Hall at seven thirty any good?" Lily nodded, though Emma did not see as she had already scurried away in the direction of her housemates, not hearing Lily's rather confused reply,

"Great. Sounds great." She turned back to her books, alone at her desk once more, unsure of what she was supposed to make of her new acquaintance.

~x~x~x~

"What." Came a rather harsh voice as Lily swept up the first floor steps, intent upon heading back up towards Gryffindor Tower. She had, in fact, had a rather pleasant evening with Emma and Severus, the three of them having wandered down towards the Black Lake, spent a while chatting to one another before Emma had decided to hit Lily with a rather well placed Aguamenti Charm, verifying to her that this Slytherin girl was much more fun than she had originally let on. As Lily had lay soaking upon the now wet grass, the two Slytherin's had looked on amusedly, Emma diving behind Severus as Lily aimed a Knockback Jinx at the two of them, throwing them into the shallows of the Black Lake itself. And in that way, Lily and Emma had come to know each other, casually chasing each other in the freezing night air and exchanging humorous stories of their past magical education, all whilst Severus sat quietly looking on at them, a small smile tugging at his lips. And now, she had left the two of them, watching a little as the two of them descended towards the dungeons, before heading towards her own Common Room. "Was that?" Lily looked upwards to see James dangling over the stone banisters from the second floor, his mouth wide open as her looked down at her full of bewilderment.

"Oh, what do you want now Potter?" She brushed passed him, paying him ne heed for fear of her own fury rising at the mere sight of him. She could tell from the way he was lolling against the staircase that he was in a ridiculously pompous mood, his laziness and arrogance shining through like a beacon in the dark halls.

"Why were you with them?" He questioned, something which Lily ignored at first as she continued up the staircase, James hot on her heels. But her stomach twisted slightly, and she found herself unable to disregard him,

"Does it matter?" She replied, never stopping, fully aware of him following her close behind, a little unsure of whether his persistence pleased or annoyed her. In a way, she felt a little ostentatious as he did, smug that the boy her sister was keeping such close contact with was following her, interested in what she had been doing, yet also rather apprehensive by his sudden interest.

"It does when they're Slytherins!" He exclaimed, Lily stopping suddenly with him colliding harshly with her back. She turned back to him, her face blank and unforgiving, and her body still as she felt thoroughly disgusted with his comment.

"How shallow minded…" She stated, dangerously quietly, before beginning again upon her ascent. It was strange to her, as she almost could not blame him for thinking such a thing, indeed most of the school also did, but she was disappointed by his lack of acceptance, particularly with his upbringing into a Pureblood family.

"They aren't like the rest of us you know." He continued, catching her up with a slight jog and walking side – by – side with her. She snorted at him, attempting to speed up and rid herself of his foolishness,

"Like the rest of us? They are a part of this school." She threw behind her, tired of his words, tired of his nature that was far too different to hers.

"But Snivellus? Really?" He caught her up once more, rather easily, dragging his fingers through his hair and he looked at her exasperatedly. She could barely believe him. The Severus she knew had no qualms with other students, and certainly deserved no direct negative attention from other students, other than owing to the fact he was indeed a Slytherin, something of which Lily was no issues with.

"You know Severus?" She looked towards James cautiously, a little unnerved by the smirk that spread across his face,

"Massive twat." He stated, rather unsympathetically. Lily resisted the urge to smack him as hard as she could, or perhaps even push him back down the stairs as they crossed to the seventh floor, rounding upon him heavily,

"Shut up." She breathed, her chest heavily as it tightened painfully, his face falling a little in shock. She was staring directly at him, well aware of how crazy she must have looked to him, but barely even caring, desperately trying to refrain her eyes from travelling over his face, drinking his features in, "You just…Shut your mouth." She said after a moments silence, straightening herself and giving her body a small shake, refusing to let him unnerve her, "You don't know the first thing about him. Or about me." Walking towards the portrait of the Fat Lady, she refused to look back at him, giving the password and them passing into Gryffindor Tower, "Dilligrout." She could hear him follow her in, a little discomforted by his persistence, almost wishing she had avoided him completely and not engaged him,

"I know that he's an arse. And a Slytherin." James muttered to himself as they crossed the Common Room, him lagging slightly behind her, yet close enough to hear every word. She froze, rounding on him suddenly, not thinking about what she said, only that she wished to shake him furiously and scream at him until he even remotely grasped the idea of house unity.

"You arrogant oaf!" She shrieked, suddenly becoming aware of the silence that had fallen over them, all eyes turning towards the two of them as she desperately tried to gather herself once more. "Oh you are welcome to Petunia…" She added quietly, staring around furiously at the others scattered about the Common Room, them all falling back into quiet conversation, muttering between themselves hurriedly and averting their eyes, "You deserve each other." Lily said softly, her stomach twisting uncomfortably, heading towards her dormitory. And it was now her own fault. She had risen to his provoking. Had brought up Petunia herself, had infuriated herself for no reason other than out of anger and frustration.

"Evans!" He called after her, though Lily ignored him, frustrated with both him and herself, "Evans!" He tried again, Lily slowly ascending the stairs up to her dormitory, not glancing back, hoping he would have received the message of her ignoring him loud and clear by now, "You can't just walk away like that while we're talking." She stopped, turning around and huffing loudly, spinning around and thrusting a finger in his direction,

"Don't you dare follow me up these stairs." Yet he took another step towards her, clearly intent upon bounding up after her, frustration etched into his features, "I mean it!" She took another step away from him, a grin plastering over his face as he leapt as far as he could in her direction. Without warning, the stairs beneath the two of them melted into one, becoming a slippery slide and sending the two of them slipping back towards the bottom, where she collapsed on top of him, their limbs tangled together as she repeatedly smacked him in the arms, "Do you not listen?" She shrieked at him, attempting to detangle themselves, only causing each of them even more discomfort as they squirmed against one another, his foot connecting painfully with her stomach.

"How was I supposed to know that that happened?" She gave him another sharp hand to his back, finally pulling free and flopping onto her back, "Girls can get up into our dormitory!" He stated angrily, Lily shooting him a furious look at his perverse statement, a look that did not go unnoticed by him, "Not like that!" He said shaking, pulling himself from the floor and patting himself down, his eyes flicking over towards her. She pursed her lips together tightly,

"I." She started, sitting straight up, "Said nothing." Lily could not look him in the eyes, feeling incredibly shy all of a sudden as eh held out a hand towards her,

"Here." Yet she shook her head, batting him away harshly, a blush spreading across her cheeks. She refused to be mollycoddled by him, especially now. He was her sister's trouble, not hers.

"I can do it myself." She said firmly, even as his hand slipped under the crook of her elbow, dragging her upwards, "I do not require your assistance!" She insisted, pulling her robes a little straighter and refusing to meet his eyes, which she could feel burning a hole into her,

"What do you see in him?" James asked suddenly, Lily softening slightly, leaning against the wall behind her. She had been asked this question before by her sister, and knew exactly how to reply, having spent much time thinking it over in her mind, the love and pity she felt for her friend ever present in her heart.

"Kindness." She spoke quietly looking down to her feet, a lump rising in her throat, a sadness falling over her when she thought to Severus, his own home life so different to hers, "He just needs help to be able to show it properly." She reaffirmed, looking back up to James, the belief and truth in her words ever present in her fiery eyes. And yes. She completely believed her words. There was the ability in all people to be good, they just had to be given the chance to be so, "Not all Slytherin's are bad." She said confidently, seeing James' eyes narrow as he folded his arms into one another.

"Those kids he hangs about with are. Death Eaters." He muttered turning to walk away from her and seat himself in a secluded alcove of the room. Feeling the need to continue her point, she followed him, speaking rather confidently,

"They're different. They are not him." She began, though James seemed not to care, "He's easily influenced, Potter. And it could be in a good way. He can become a good man." The fell into silence once more, Lily turning from him, intent upon going directly to her bed, yet her mouth stopped her, echoing a deep buried question that she had longed to keep inside of her, "Why Petunia?"

"She's…Beautiful." He began, Lily's heart sinking slightly. She had expected as much, it was difficult to have thought any different, "And funny. Kind too. She speaks very highly of you…Despite how obviously rude to her you are." He continued, his voice laced with enjoyment as he seemed to wallow in the memory of the afternoons he had spent in her company, Lily becoming more and more nauseous with each passing second, "She's mature and intelligent, and knows what she wants. I like that." Lily turned away from him, her hands shaking slightly, strangely hurt by his words, a deep longing inside her beating out, as though it was unfair that no one had ever said these things about her.

"You barely know her." She mumbled lightly, but he seemed not to notice her drop in confidence, or her inability to keep still, either from feeling upset and emotional or resisting the urge to hit him as hard as she could, forcing Petunia from his mind.

"I can't keep from thinking of her." He trailed off, "It's like I've known her forever." Lily retched silently,

"That would be torture." She spat, still refusing to look at him, though she doubted it would make much of a difference as he continued mumbling on to himself,

"Weird." He trailed off, "So different…You're like a guy sometimes." Lily straightened immediately, walking robotically forwards and away from him, refusing to listen any more, even as he called after her, "Hey! We're talking!" He called, but to her, he had said enough already. Petunia was the princess, and she was just another one of his third rate mates. Just how it had always been.

* * *

_Japan's Arc Angel_

_x_


End file.
